Men's Fragrances

[Dane]

Haha. Well, Creed is good :). Green Irish Tweed is my number one.

No, Creed is not good. GIT is okay...but seeing as it's only a modified formula of Davidoff Cool Water at 10x the price, it's not something I'd generally go out of my way for.

My opinion only of course...you're the one wearing it. When it runs out though, we shall talk.

[Faust]

I have too much cologne. I should sell some. Does anyone want my Jil Sander for men? Virtually untouched.

What's wrong with Creed? Enlighten me.

[Dane]

I have too much cologne. I should sell some. Does anyone want my Jil Sander for men? Virtually untouched.

What's wrong with Creed? Enlighten me.

Their marketing annoys me...they blatantly push the agenda that they use only "natural" ingredients...which is bs. They also have a phony british crest implying they produce product for royalty, which they do not. They give out actual lists saying which celebrities wear their scents, and even in some case which celebrity the scent was made for...which, once again, has virtually no truth to it. They're also notorious for making up anniversaries...that whatever scent was created in 1800-whatever and was actually only created in the 90's. Add all that to the fact that 90% of the scents are (a) awful, (b) derivative, and (c) over-priced, and you're not left with much positive attributes.

There are far too many better options out there to waste time on Creed as far as I'm concerned. The 10% of their scents that aren't terrible are still over-priced when comparable (often better) examples are available at any department store.

[Faust]

Damn, son. Killed it. I still love my GIT though :)

[Dane]

Further elaboration...

"Royal-Oud is owned by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, according to The Wall Street Journal. It is also worn by members of six U.S. presidential families."

"Prince William and his bride will get a sniff when the scent is presented to the couple at the Santa Barbara Polo Club."

- Wall Street Journal

Just because you "presented" someone with a bottle of something, doesn't mean they wear or endorse it.

[Dane]

Damn, son. Killed it. I still love my GIT though :)

For sure...just because I don't like someone's policies doesn't mean you shouldn't like/wear something they make. I just think everyone should know how awful they are.

[several_girls]

Dane, since you seem to be very knowledgeable on the subject, can you give me some names of good scent makers and some of your own favorite scents? I have a layman's preference for woodsy, spicy cologne but I'm willing to branch out. Very idiosyncratic or unusual suggestions are also welcome.

In particular, there was one day when I had a cig then ate an orange pretty soon afterward, and I really enjoyed the combination of the citrus and tobacco.

[Dane]

Some great houses and my preferred scents in their collections:

1. Etat Libre d'Orange - not crazy expensive, but terrific, almost modernized classical scents. Rien (leather), Antiheros (lavender), Vraie Blonde (fizzy floral) are my favourites.

2. Chanel's "exclusive" line are pricey, but include some of the greatest scents ever created - Cuir de Russie (floral leather), Bois des Iles (fruity sandalwood), 28 La Pausa (green iris), and Sycomore (smoky vetiver) are the standouts.

3. S-Perfume (A Lab On Fire if in EU) make only a few scents, but 2 are excellent - S-ex (aquatic leather/musk) is pure strangeness, and 100% Love (chocolate rose) is also terrific.

4. Etro make several excellent scents, very natural, very simplistic and easy to wear - Shaal Nur (citrus incense...might fit your cigarette/orange craving), Messe de Minuit (resinous incense), and Ambra (orange amber) are all terrific.

5. Comme des Garcons, which may be obvious, make probably 50 or 60 scents now. My personal favs - 2 (in the silver bottle, metallic floral), Carnation (Red Series), Rhubarb (Sherbet Series). Some other great ones - Sequoia (wood), Vettiveru (vetiver), Stephen Jones (insane chemical).

That's probably a good start...if you want more obscure, Humiecki & Graef (sp?) make rather pricey, incredibly strange scents like Multiple Rouge (fruit from space), Eau Radieuse (mint/pool chemicals) & Clemency (breast milk, leather, etc.)

[the breaks]

citrus + woody + spicy... have you tried terre d'hermes? it's a pretty safe choice, i've never met anyone who didn't like it.

[BECOMING-INTENSE]

"My work is really about things that really do smell wonderful, but don't have a lot of the properties that commercial perfumes do." Like lasting more than 10 minutes. Might as well put water on, stuff doesn't last at all. double ugh.

Interesting, I have one of his bottles, Black March, it lingers fine
through the day and are still there in the evening. This one seems
to belong to cold darker days. I can of course not say that about
all the different perfumes of his, as I haven't tried them, and I
have no intention on doing so. Though I have no interest in being
overwhelmed by a perfume, so we might have different
preferences here.

[Dane]

citrus + woody + spicy... have you tried terre d'hermes? it's a pretty safe choice, i've never met anyone who didn't like it.

Life is too short for safe choices.

[the breaks]

Interesting, I have one of his bottles, Black March, it lingers fine
through the day and are still there in the evening.

Really? I have Black March too and it's gone literally 5 minutes after I put it on

[BECOMING-INTENSE]

Yes, really, or else my nose is playing tricks on me.

[Atom]

I have a book called Kyoteau, a wonderful little story about memories and feelings of Kyoto, and creating a parfume from that point. The book contained a small bottle of fragnance, created by Christophe Laudamiel.

The fragnance never made it to production. Unfortunately, because I absulutely loved it, and I've used the small sample bottle already. So, I wonder if anybody have any recommendations for a scent from Christophe Laudamiel that has any woody, hinoki-like notes in it?

Thx.

[t-bone]

I wanted to thank whoever recommended Olivier Durbano's Black Tourmaline, I ordered a sample and am now hooked, hopefully getting a bottle soon.

Have also been obsessed with Oud lately, in both fragrances and incense. Tried a number of them (Byredos' Oud Immortel is amazing) but recently picked up a bottle of actual Oud oil from a Middle Eastern Essential Oils shop near my house and am experimenting with blending my own fragrance with some spice extractions I have been doing myself. Need to pick up a couple more oils I think (other wood notes, possibly a rose to soften the oud). Having fun!

Edit: Also incense fans, Muji's "Jin-Koh" is an amazing Oud based incense.